Has everything been done to death?
After spending two years fighting back from the verge of bankruptcy I don’t know if I want to go on in my current line of work in electrical wholesaling, poor cash flow, everything is supplied on credit if you get paid at all and it’s easilly reccesion hit.

So starting my own business in the bike trade, is there any room for another bike business.
As of December this year I’ll be totally debt free and have several grand in my pocket and premises on a small trading estate.

I love the idea of being an artisan worker, but more likely to look at importing selling anything really. Only need to earn a small living, but want something to see me through.

You know that MiCycle shop in London?
Well that’s a great business model, it sells “cycling” rather than bikes, has a decking area, nice little cafe etc
http://www.micycle.org.uk/
Same with Look Mum No Hands in NE London, bohemian feel cafe, workshop, cyclists hangout etc rather than a plain and simple bike shop.

My LBS survives on a strange mix of repairs (mostly to bog standard stuff), sale of low – mid range bikes and then super high end kit bought by the local cycle club that he supports/sponsors. Really weird to see £200 bikes and rusty POS in the back for repair with a £1500 set of wheels hung up next to them…

Serrotta type bike fitting seems to be increasing in popularity. Maybe have a look at that. Set up with some rollers and video analysis kit.

Friends of mine set up a shop a few years back and are doing brilliantly. There’s lots of demand for a good road shop apparently.

They started online first to keep costs low but now have a proper shop too.

crazy-legs – Member
You know that MiCycle shop in London?
Well that’s a great business model, it sells “cycling” rather than bikes, has a decking area, nice little cafe etc

And guess what? It’s currently in tatters after some rude word deleted before teh mods get all upset looted it. Sad.

Great idea and effort by the guys behind it though, I wish them well.

CFH – yeah I know, the fact that it’s in the news reminded me of it.
Very sad and like you say, all the best to them for getting back up and running again.

MiCycle got looted? **** me, that’s just down the road from my house, top little bike store… that sucks 🙁

This is all a bit sudden and probably pie in the sky.

This is what I’ve got.
Some cash
Industrial premises easy to get to and park at.
A pretty good base knowledge of all things bike.
contacts in the trade and clubs
Can build frames and wheels, but have no quals
tools for stuff going back to the 70’s

This wouldn’t be in a city…i.e in a cheap skate area.

MiCycle and Evans here

Mosquito hit as well

Plenty of very good coverage on BikeBiz.

is there any room for another bike business

Yes, of course there is

And I’ve got R J Chicken, Fisher Outdoor Liesure and Maddisons on my doorstep.

there’s a guy in my area who runs a successful “bike doctor” business.

Bascially, he’s Cytech qualified and has a van which is kitted out with a mobile workshop.

His prices are extremely competitive because he doesn’t have large permises to rent etc (although he does use another workshop at his house for some jobs).

It has been an absolute dream for me. I don’t have the time to get to an LBS. So he’s “on call” if I need a headset pressed before the weekend, or a mount faced for example.

Or if I want/need something done to my bike before a weekend away and just don’t have the time (i.e. fitting of a new chainguide and sorting out gears etc), then he will come and pick the bike up, do the work and then drop it back off again.

He also does visits to various office buildings. So people who cycle to work (and perhaps don’t have great maintenance skills) can have their bike worked on while they are working in the office, cycling home on a freshly serviced bike.

With CRC/Wiggle etc being so popular now, there are a lot of people buying parts and trying to fit them at home, rather than buying them from an LBS and getting the shop to fit it.

It won’t make you a millionaire, and isn’t very scaleable, but it’s cheap entry to the market, allows you to play with bikes all day, quite easy to sell (cheaper than LBS, word of mouth in cycling community, turn up to race days etc) and if it all goes boobies up, sell the van and tools and you’ve not lost a huge amount.

I think a growth sector for bikes is in the City Centre storage facility. I’ve seen more and more people commuting to work by bike and I’m sure most like me may have somewhere to store the bike but nowhere to shower. Somewhere that could offer these services along with secure storage for bike and clothing cycling/workwear that could also combine with basic repairs, parts, clothing and maybe even a laundry service (outsourced) and you could be onto a winner.

Cycle fitting? Probably a decent outlay on one of those fancy adjustable frames thingies but £25 for a fit.

peterfile has a decent idea – fitting charge for bought in bits that people buy but don’t know hwo to actually fit, or haven’t got tools for.

do the framebuilding thing